Eli Adds To Manning Legacy

When talk began to build about whether Mississippi ought to mount a media blitz to hype quarterback Eli Manning as a Heisman Trophy candidate this season, the family nixed it.

Archie, his father, the two-time All-American, thought it was best that Eli let his play speak for itself.

Ole Miss officials agreed.

"It really wasn't news as far as we're concerned," Mississippi coach David Cutcliffe said. "The Heisman is not an award won by a campaign. That wasn't really an issue. He is certainly a great football player. At his position, he is as good as there is in the country. I couldn't ask for anything more. If our team responds and has a great year and if our quarterback plays the way he expects to play, he could be a candidate for many individual awards."

Manning, a 6-foot-4 junior, added 15 pounds in the offseason. He weighs 220 pounds. His stature outside the lines is growing, too.

With his father being the most famous football player Ole Miss produced and his brother Peyton quarterbacking for the Indianapolis Colts, Manning is used to being a center of attention. It's been that way since he walked onto the Oxford, Miss., campus four years ago. He began living up to the expectations with a breakout season last fall.

Actually, Manning took his first big step when he nearly helped the Rebels come back from a 39-point deficit in the Music City Bowl at the end of his freshman season.

Last year, Manning threw for 2,948 yards, 6 short of Peyton's sophomore season totals at Tennessee. He threw for 31 touchdowns and nine interceptions and ranked 20th nationally in passing efficiency. He set it all up completing 18 passes in a row in his first start of the year against Murray State.

The Southeastern Conference is filled with talented quarterbacks. There's Rex Grossman at Florida, Casey Clausen at Tennessee, Jared Lorenzen of Kentucky and David Greene of Georgia.

Of those, Manning is the most traditional NFL-type player.

"He is capable of doing the same things Peyton did," said Cutcliffe, who coached Peyton at Tennessee before taking the head coach's job at Mississippi. "He just hasn't done them yet."

With Eli's pedigree and talent, he seems a natural Heisman candidate if he produces again this year.

"The Heisman is something you get awarded for your play on the field, not on how many posters you are on," Manning said. "It's not something to get your hopes up high about right now. At the end of the season, if you play hard every game and they want to include you in it, that's great. If they don't, then it shouldn't get you down. You don't worry about it."